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Unbounce would like to help you (and more than 15,000 other businesses) "create irresistible purchase channels," using landing pages. How they do that? Unbounce claims it is the only landing page building tool that can draw on "more than a decade" of conversion data and combine that with the power of AI. Based on that data, Unbounce thinks it can even optimize your page and instantly generate about 30 percent more sales and sign-ups compared to a traditional A/B test. The result? A better-converting page for you, ready to bring in sales. In this article, we take a more critical look at Unbounce and put the program against the yardstick of its main competitors. By the end of the article, you'll know exactly whether Unbounce is the right choice for you or whether you'd rather keep looking.
More about Unbounce
Unbounce claims to have been the very first true landing page builder on the market and to still be innovative. The company was started in 2009 by six founders who were well done with the long development time of pages in those years. Looking for a better way to design landing pages themselves, Unbounce saw the light of day. Not much later, it also became possible to create pop-ups and stick bars with Unbounce, increasing the focus on conversion. Unbounce indeed seems to be continuing to evolve and this is likely attracting some big names as clients, such as Thinkific and Campaign Monitor.
An important starting point in using Unbounce is the fact that you choose a single platform, but can get started with two page builders: Classic and Smart. You get them with every subscription model, by the way. With Classic, you can easily and quickly get started with a (now classic) drag-and-drop page builder. There, by the way, you can also turn the knobs quite a bit and even dive into the code (JavaScript/CSS) if you want. Smart Builder goes a step further: based on the data set just mentioned, Smart makes recommendations for your page, which helps with development time. So you can use ready-made templates or opt for directly generated (AI) copy. In itself, this hasn't been all that relevant as of late (surely you haven't heard of ChatGPT before?), but it's still a neat feature to have available within your design program. Unbounce claims that this allows you to build your landing pages about half as fast as with other similar programs.
A useful feature of Classic is dynamic text replacement. This allows you to design your pages so that the copy of your landing page automatically adapts to the ad your visitor has just clicked on. Another feature to boost conversion rates...
With Smart, on the other hand, you can quickly get started with key integrations like PayPal, Stripe or Shopify; without even touching a line of code.
In addition to ease of use, speed is paramount at Unbounce. In fact, Unbounce takes speed very seriously. Unbounce helps you load your pages super fast (maximum a few seconds) and they do that by arranging the hosting setup for you, image optimization, server configuration et cetera. Unbounce handles it all for you and that can be a big advantage over using an (open source) package like WordPress for example.
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Unbounce is very popular and user-friendly package and for good reason. The team behind the software just did a really neat job. Below is a list of the main features you can expect from Unbounce:
- Classic and Smart (drag-and-drop) page builders
- Dynamic Text Replacment
- A/B split testing (in combination with Smart Traffic, where Unbounce automatically sends visitors to your best converting page. In practice, this feature simply saves you a lot of time).
- Pop-ups (again, you can choose from many ready-made templates and use the drag-and-drop builder for this)
- Sticky bars
- Integrations with major tools and expandable using Zapier if needed
Also with Unbounce, you can choose from several pricing and subscription models. The price of each model depends on the volume of conversions, visitors and domains you need (on a monthly basis). Of course, you can test things out before making your final choice by using a free 14-day trial. The packages and prices below are based on monthly installments; if you are willing to pay a year in advance, you can count on a 25 percent discount.
Launch ($99 per month)
The Launch package helps you get started with unlimited landing pages, pop-ups or sticky bars. You can also use AI copywriting to produce much more text than before. However, it is important to take into account a maximum of 500 conversions, 20,000 visitors on a maximum of 1 (single) domain.
Optimize ($145 per month)
Of course, Optimize offers you the same, but the limits are a little wider. Count on up to 1,000 conversions, 30,000 visitors, across up to 5 domains.
Accelerate ($240 per month)
At Accelerate, you really start to scale up and so do the limits: you can assume 2,500 conversions, 50,000 visitors, across 10 domains.
Concierge ($625 per month)
With this largest package, you are advised to contact an Unbounce specialist who can help you further. $625 per month is of course a huge amount, but here you get Unbounce's maximum bandwidth: 5,000 conversions, 100,000 visitors, spread over a maximum of 25 domains.
Assessment criteria and alternatives
As you've no doubt read, we're pretty positive about Unbounce. But how do you know if Unbounce is the right tool for you and fits your business goals?
You will no doubt be familiar with the other providers in this industry, such as Instapage or ClickFunnels. So in our "comparison shopping" these companies often come up, but we also include lesser-known names. In fact, we look at all the popular tools of the moment.
Still, it's good to do some extra research before proceeding to purchase because each tool is slightly different or focuses on specific things. This is not necessarily right or wrong, but ultimately makes the choice personal (and often: economical).
We looked at the main challengers based on the main websites, blogs and comparison sites and, of course, our own experiences. To assess whether a program is an interesting alternative, we looked at the criteria below.
- Opportunities and USPs.
A program's features are often the determining factor. When designing a good, modern (landing) page, ease of use and speed of the page builder should be especially important, but there are more features to pay attention to, such as the design of pop-ups or questionnaires. Important to increase conversion is, for example, the ability to split test (A/B) or personalize. Integrations with other tools can also be important, but that will depend a bit more on your personal situation.
- Usability
Usability follows in an important second place. Modern software to build Web sites and pages should actually be usable out-of-the-box. Fortunately, modern tools are increasingly user-friendly. Under this heading we actually include speed of the software and the landing page, but also the clarity of the various tools you need to make your landing page (or sales funnel) a success.
- Price
Price is relative. If you are able to either attract more sales or save an enormous amount of time, then price need not be as big a stumbling block. Still, price can't go on indefinitely without causing problems (in the long run). In fact, as so often, everything comes down to getting the price right; especially if you plan to scale up with the software.
1. Leadpages
As you have been able to read, the price for the various Unbounce packages rises quickly. Therefore, the (average) price is immediately one of the biggest disadvantages of choosing Unbounce. Fortunately, Leadpages offers a very interesting alternative for your wallet. Important to mention: Leadpages is also a very complete package that you can use to realize complete landing pages, opt-in forms, pop-ups, alert bars and for example checkouts.
Leadpages' library is also full of ready-made templates, which you can customize without breaking your head over code. In addition, you'll find a lot of relevant other modules, such as timers. Leadpages is also fast and offers you the most important analysis tools in the Dashboard.
The biggest difference is as said price and so you can get started with Leadpages from as little as $37 per month. On top of that, there are also no limits, so you can really get started undisturbed.
2. Instapage
If you're talking about complete, all-round challengers to Unbounce, Instapage quickly comes to mind. They should, because Instapage, for example, offers a complete "conversion intelligence" platform that should shake up your own conversions considerably.
With that, Instapage does target the (advanced) teams: the software has integrated useful collaboration features for them. So you and your team can design and develop together even faster.
Instapage has also built up a hefty library of ready-made templates (500+) and, in addition, even ready-made blocks to make your life even easier.
Of course, you can further optimize your existing landing page using A/B testing and heat maps. The software is also known for its well-established set of integrations with third-party tools such as Salesforce and Marketo.
Unfortunately, prices do start a bit higher; for the Building plan you will pay $199 per month, which is also serious money, of course. For that, however, you don't have to worry about limits on usage: in fact, there are none for that amount!
3. Landingi
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Are you looking for a user-friendly alternative to Unbounce? Then you should definitely give Landingi a try. Landingi is fast, simple and easy to use. Not surprisingly, it does not have as many features and functions as Unbounce, but that makes it accessible to beginners who only need the essentials. The tool can most easily be compared to Canva, the online graphic design software that has become popular as a cloud-based alternative to Photoshop.
That said, you can of course get started with somewhat more advanced features such as A/B testing, pop-ups, custom code and even complete marketing funnels. But: you don't have to! You just choose what you need and as a beginner you will have your hands full getting your business started.
Landingi also starts budget-friendly: you can even get started for free, which will get your first landing page up and running. Starting at $49 a month, you even get unlimited landing pages and conversions. So in the past there was a 14-day trial version available, but since the introduction of the Free package, no more.
4. GetResponse
Getresponse is another well-known name in the market and goes even a little further: it is a complete marketing toolkit for SMBs. That means you can use it to build landing pages, but also use it for email marketing and lead generation, automation and even create a complete website with it.
That, of course, revolves around the concepts of "customer journeys" and "sales funnels," and GetResponse provides you with the tools (including templates for Facebook and Instagram ads) to attract potential customers and keep them warm throughout the buying process.
The drag-and-drop page builder is perhaps fairly similar to Unbounce's, and the templates look good and professional.
What you might really be surprised by is the price of GetResponse. For example, there is a "forever free" subscription (yes, you read it right) where you don't even have to put anything down at all. With that, you may only use a single website or landing page and 500 email contacts. Paid subscriptions are not much more expensive, however, and you can start as low as about $12 a month.
5. AdPage
Although AdPage may sound like a typical English or American product, this is really software from Dutch soil. In fact, we developed it ourselves and we are quite proud of that!
Therefore, we think AdPage is a serious alternative to Unbounce. The fact that AdPage was developed on Dutch soil immediately pays off as far as we are concerned. Of course, everything can be read in Dutch, which makes it just a little bit easier to find your way around the dashboard.
We designed the software with speed and optimization in mind. In fact, we do our best to make your landing page appear within 0.5 seconds. The landing pages you designed can then be segmented and personalized to increase conversion rates. The templates you come across have already been tested for the Dutch market so that immediately offers the best results. In addition, they are also completely up-to-date with the latest AVG regulations: not unimportant as we move to first-party data collection and Server Side Tracking.
The main strengths of AdPage are:
- Personalization of your landing pages (which converts up to 40% better)
- Faster landing pages (which converts up to 13% better)
- Multistep forms (which convert up to 11% better)
- Dynamic text fields
Would you like to ask your customers something as soon as they are on your page for the first time? With AdPage you can ask your visitors dynamic questions that are personalized based on their answers. AdPage helps you easily get started with these "multisteps" and therefore you no longer need a separate tool, such as Google Forms or Typeform, for example. You will also find various options for creating pop-ups or offering discount codes to your visitors.
You can seamlessly integrate AdPage with existing tools like Mailblue, ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp, Salesforce, Teamleader or any of 500(!) other tools.
You can start with AdPage for free - to quickly get acquainted with the software and the power of the product. In that case, you can receive up to 100 profiles (i.e. visitors) and if you continue to grow, you simply switch to the next package. This way, your package will only grow with you when you reach the next level! The AdPage team is also known for its dedicated support. So if you get stuck - our team of (Dutch) conversion experts is ready to help you quickly tackle problems and increase sales.
Conclusion
Like any software package, Unbounce has its pros and cons. Still, we have to be honest and conclude that Unbounce is one of the most complete and user-friendly landing page builders on the market. Perhaps the most important aspect here is its focus on conversion: the variable on which our business runs. Unbounce has done a great job building software that does exactly what it stands for and has left out all the unnecessary peripherals.
At the same time, the price point is one of Unbounce's main drawbacks. For that, you have to dig deep into the pocket... In itself, this need not be a problem for growing companies, but for SMBs and startups, this can be a serious consideration. Especially in today's time where all costs count... We have seen that Leadpages, as well as Landingi, GetResponse and AdPage offer good alternatives for this.
Moreover, both Landingi and AdPage stand out for their focus on essentials and omission of peripheral issues. This makes these software packages more attractive to beginners or entrepreneurs who know exactly what they want. AdPage specifically stands out because of a dedicated team of Dutch (support) specialists, who know what works for the local (Dutch and European) market.